Same Town, New Couch

Vilnius Travel Blog

On Sunday night I actually switched couchsurfing hosts. Justas's apartment was going to be crowded with the addition of the Canadians and I wanted the opportunity to meet more people. I was taken in by two girls, Viktorija and Reda, in possibly the sweetest flat in all of Vilnius. The apartment building was old and typical. And keeping tradition with every host I've stayed with thus far, the apartment was on the very top floor of the tall, elevatorless edifice.

The flat, itself, was a renovated loft, decorated with wood and stainless steel. The upstairs rooms were lit with skylights that opened up to view the Vilnius skyline. So cool. The same can be said for the girls. They were sweet, easy to be around and still glowing from a recent couchsurfing experience of their own in Rome.

skylight view

It was fun to join in on their enthusiasm and bond over some good old-fashioned girl talk.

For our first night together, we found a Czech pub and watched the final Euro-cup game. I know those of you reading have all been in ardent suspense over the outcome, and you'll be happy to know Spain beat Germany, 1-0. That is, of course, unless you're a fan of Germany.

When the girls had to go to work the next day, I set out on my usual roaming path. I had plans to meet Andreanne and Charlotte by one of the churches, to make plans for our upcoming trip to the Baltic coast. (More on this topic to come.) I was late getting there and, unsure of the location, they gave up very quickly. All of this resulting in a failed rendezvous. I sat waiting for awhile, but eventually gave up myself and continued in my wandering.

Uzipis

After a few hours of attempting to hike up to the city castle and venturing to the artist neighborhood of Uzipis, I emerged from a small side street and BAM...I ran right into the girls! Seriously, two seconds later and there's no way I would have seen them. To make the union even more uncanny, I saw that they had finally met up with their traveling Quebecian friend, Philippe. While it's not terribly strange that they found him, I found it completely mind-blowing that I knew him! I had hung out with him that night in Berlin, when we were both random tag-alongs for the Swedish soccer game. I don't know about you folks, but that's what I call a small world. And I think it's great. We seem to be on a similar path now, going from Lithuania, to Latvia, Estonia and on to Sweden. So it's likely we'll run into one another again.

The girls and I made dinner for my last night in Vilnius. Vikta made fish. Reda handled the potatoes. And I exposed them to the glory of salad with strawberries. All of it topped off with ice cream and good conversation. I've really enjoyed my time in Vilnius and feel like I got a decent understanding of Lithuania and it's people. I also very happily discovered that the rest of the toilets were regular porcelain stools. Hallelujah for that, or it could have been a very long week.